Harry Potter’s American Road Trip
by PsychoticEyes
Summary: Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Ginny attempt to drive to Disneyland, California! Hilarity and even a bit of romance occurs along the way.
1. Hermione's Surprise

Mr. and Mrs. Granger led a blindfolded Hermione out of their small, cottage house, and down the pathway through a large garden. Hermione stumbled on the sidewalk, and her parents caught her.

"Where are you taking me?" Hermione asked, unable to keep the anticipation out of her voice.

"We have a little surprise for you," said her father.

"A surprise? What for?"

"It's an early birthday present from your father and me," Mrs. Granger answered.

It was the beginning of August, and Hermione's eighteenth birthday was just a month away. She would be starting her seventh year at Hogwarts on September first.

Hermione had no idea what her parents would be getting her for her birthday. Whatever it was, Hermione knew, ithad to betoo big to go inside the house. Curiosity rising, she tried to walk faster and stumbled again. After what seemed like ages under the blindfold, her parents stopped her at the driveway.

"Can I take the blindfold off now?" Hermione asked anxiously.

"Just wait a minute!"

Deliberately taking as long as he could, Mr. Granger started removing the cloth around Hermione's eyes. After a few seconds, Hermione made a noise of impatience. Her parents chuckled. Finally, the blindfold came off and Hermione's initial suspicion when she was led to the driveway was correct: a gleaming red convertible stood a few feet in front of her.

Hermione's mouth fell open. It took her a few seconds for her to fully comprehend what she was seeing. She let out a squeal of delight. "Oh my gosh! A car!" She flung herself onto her parents and began thanking them profusely. "I love it!"

"It's not just any car, it's a 2005 Ford Mustang ConvertibleGT!" her father said proudly. "We got a really good deal on it, too."

Hermione carefully opened to door so as not to smudge the handle, and sat on the black leather driver's seat. The keys were in the ignition. She started the car with a shudder and gripped the steering wheel. Excitement flooded through her, and her face shone with delight. "I can't wait to take it for a spin!"

She turned off the car and began to sprint back toward the house. "I've got to get my driver's license!" A few seconds later, she reappeared at her parents' side, clutching her purse and breathing heavily from her sprint through the house.

"Wait, Hermione, before you drive it, we've got something else to tell you," her mother said. "We've talked to your friends Harry, Ron, and Ginny, and they've agreed to go with you on a little road trip that we set up for you instead of coming with us to Majorca like originally planned. You'll leave tomorrow with your new car for the United States."

"Oh, mum, dad, you're the best! There'll be so much to learn there! I can't wait!" And positively bouncing with excitement, she said, "I'll be right back," and disappeared with a loud pop.

"Where did she go?" Mr. Granger asked, bewildered.

"She did that disappearing thing again. I'll bet she went over to her friends' house to tell them," Mrs. Granger said, smiling.

"No matter how many times she does that, I don't think I'll even get used to this 'magic' thing. . . ."


	2. The Road Trip

Harry was soaring through the air on his Firebolt, enjoying the wind in his hair in the Quidditch enclosure behind the Weasleys' house with his best mate Ron and girlfriend Ginny when suddenly an uninvited noise made him draw his eyes toward the ground. His other best friend, Hermione, had just Apparated directly beneath him.

"Hermione!" Harry flew down to the ground and dismounted his broom, Ron and Ginny right behind him. "What are you doing here?"

"I'm here to show you my new car, of course!"

"New car?" Ron asked. "I thought we were going to rent one when we went to America."

"No, of course not," Hermione said impatiently. "Come here, we have to Apparate back to my house so I can show you! Ginny, since you can't Apparate yet, grab my arm tightly."

Ginny held onto Hermione's arm, and in a few seconds, the four of them reappeared on Hermione's driveway with another loud pop.

Mr. and Mrs. Granger, who had been examining the new car they got Hermione, turned around hastily, apparently caught by surprise. "Hello Harry, Ron, Ginny," Mr. Granger said, extending his arm to each in turn. They shook his hand courteously.

"So how do you like it?" Hermione asked.

"Wow. It's even better than Uncle Vernon's new company car!"

"It's amazing Hermione! Dad would go nuts at the sight of this," Ron said, leaning into the car and accidentally turning the windshield wipers on.

"Yeah, it's great Hermione! You'll let me drive it, won't you?" Ginny pleaded.

"Do you have a driver's license?" Hermione asked skeptically.

"Yes, I do." Ginny fiddled with her watch nervously. "Well, no I don't. It's actually just a learner's permit. Dad said that he would love it if I got a license. You know him, always tinkering with Muggle stuff."

"Are you a good driver?"

"Yes," Ginny said defiantly.

Ron snickered. "Ginny, tell the truth. Tell her about the time when you –"

"Okay, okay! I got into a little accident once."

"And she got a ticket for speeding," Ron said, unable to contain himself any longer.

"_Ron!"_

"Ginny, you got a ticket for speeding? And you never told me?" Harry asked.

"Ron, now look what you did! My boyfriend thinks I'm a bad driver!"

"Well, you are," said Ron inaudibly behind her back.

"I'm sure you'll get better Ginny, especially if Hermione helps you," Harry said. He put his arm around her shoulders and gave Hermione a demanding look. "It would be the perfect opportunity for her to get better at driving."

"Please Hermione?" Ginny begged.

"All right! Fine, I'll let you drive for a bit of the trip. But you'd better make sure that you don't get the slightest scratch on it."

Ginny beamed. "Thanks Hermione! Come on Harry, Ron, we'd better get back and pack our suitcases!"

"Meet me back here at 10:00 tomorrow morning, all right?"

They agreed to meet there at that time, and disappeared with a pop..


	3. The Journey Begins

"Get up, you two!" Ginny shouted into Harry and Ron's bedroom. "We're going to be late for Hermione!"

Ginny left and Harry sat up groggily, rubbing the sleep from his eyes. _What time is it?_ Harry sat up and took in his surroundings. Ron's room had hardly changed at all in five years. The walls were still bright orange, with moving pictures of players from the Chudley Cannons Quidditch team. He looked to his left and saw Ron in his orange and black bed, sitting up just as he had done. The fish tank by the window was filled with algae-infected water, and a tadpole was barely distinguishable through the murky glass. Sitting on top of the tank was a birdcage with Ron's tiny owl, Pigwidgeon, flying around animatedly, hitting the walls of the cage every few seconds and bouncing off. The bed Harry was in was completely different than his orange and black surroundings: it had a bright blue bedspread and birght bluesheets. Mrs. Wealsey had conjured it from thin air when Harry arrived at the Burrow two weeks ago. The ghoul in the attic clanked noisily above Harry's head, and he turned toward the small bedside table on which a slightly rusty clock sat. _9:35,_ Harry thought. He slumped back into bed and closed his eyes. _Wait…when did Hermione want us to meet her?_ Harry vaguely recalled that they were to Apparate to her house at 10:00.

"Harry, get up! We have twenty-five minutes until we have to go!" said Ron's voice nearby.

Harry sat bolt upright. _Twenty-five minutes?_ Wondering why he didn't realize that when he saw the clock, he jumped out of bed and ran into the bathroom, slamming the door behind him. A few seconds later, he started the shower.

By the time he and Ron had dressed, eaten a rushed breakfast, brushed their teeth, and dragged their suitcases (or trunks) down the stairs into the family room, it was a few minutes past 10:00. Harry saw Ginny waiting for them with a cross expression, as she was unable to Apparate herself.

"'Bout time," she grumbled. However, her mood lifted as she grabbed Harry's hand and the three of them left after saying a hurried goodbye to Mr. and Mrs. Weasley.

They arrived with the usual pop next to Hermione's new car to see an annoyed looking Hermione pacing up and down beside it.

"_Finally!_ I was wondering when you'd show up! You're late you know," she added.

"Only five minutes!" Ron said, exasperated.

"I was just about to go check on you guys. What took you?"

"Harry and Ron slept in," Ginny said.

Hermione narrowed her eyes slightly at Harry and Ron but her expression quickly cleared. "Here, take your bags and put them in the trunk of the car," Hermione said, popping the trunk with the small portable car device.

Ron didn't move. "What is that thing? Is that some kind of Muggle wand?"

Hermione rolled her eyes. "Of course not, Ron. It comes with the car. Now put your suitcase in the trunk so we can leave. You already put us behind schedule!"

Ron got into the front passenger seat and Harry and Ginny sat in the back. Hermione came around and opened the door on the left, and sat in the driver's seat. "Are you ready?" she asked excitedly.

"Wait!" Harry said. "Where exactly are we going anyway?"

Hermione pressed a button on the dashboard, and with a loud whirring noise, the hood slowly started securing itself over their heads. "Disneyland!"

"Where's that?" Ron asked.

"You'll see." Hermione started the car and backed down the driveway, an expression of glee upon her face. She drove down her street until she found a desolate country lane, where she turned.

"I'm going to perform a complex spell, and then we'll be hurled through nothingness and land in California. Do you all have your seatbelts on?"

Harry realized that he, in fact, had not put his seatbelt on and quickly buckled it into place as Hermione revved the engine and zoomed down the lane. He put his arm comfortably around Ginny, who leaned into him.

"Aren't you going rather fast?" Ron asked, nervously, as he peered into her speedometer, which read 75 MPH. He gripped his seat tightly, his knuckles white with the strain.

"Don't bother me right now, Ron, I'm trying to concentrate." Hermione took her right hand off of the steering wheel and grabbed her wand. With a look of deep concentration on her face, she began to perform a spell.

"Keep both hands on the steering wheel!" Ron exclaimed as they past within feet of a large tree at freeway speed. He shrank down in his seat and clutched the door handle like a lifeline.

"Shut up Ron, you're breaking my concentration!" Hermione shrieked angrily. After a few more seconds, she raised her wand and shouted _"Mobilia!"_and gave the dashboard a sharp rap with her wand.

Immediately, a flash of golden light enveloped the car, and it lifted off the ground. Harry and Ginny, who had just started kissing in the backseat, lurched apart with an "Ouch!" when their heads clunked together. Ron made a shrill noise of horror, and suddenly, they were rocketing away through what appeared to be complete blackness.

"Augh! I've become blinded!" Ron shouted.

"Don't be silly Ron, we're just traveling through a –"

But what they were traveling through, nobody found out because at that precise moment, the car magically fell out of thin air and bounced a few feet off of a foreign street and then came back down again, maintaining a steady 75 MPH, the engine roaring all the while, the car without the slightest scratch.

"OH MY GOD!" they all shouted simultaneously. Hermione hit the break and, unfortunately, they realized that somehow the antilock break feature had not been included in the new car.

The car skidded about a block down a city street, leaving long skid marks behind them, and came to a complete stop right at a red light at a busy intersection, narrowly avoiding a black BMW in the process. Fortunately, none of the Muggles seemed to have noticed in the slightest that a Ford Mustang appeared out of thin air and skidded a rather long distance to a busy intersection.

"My tires!" Hermione exclaimed in horror. "Reparo," she said casually, waving her wand at the tires, which instantly became brand new again.

"Hermione," Ron said, breathing heavily, "Maybe you should let Ginny drive."

Hermione ignored him and pulled out a map of the Los Angeles area.

"Hermione, where are we?" Ginny asked, looking around and massaging her forehead where she had bumped into Harry.

"I'm not sure. Obviously, I thought we were going to appear on I-5, but this is a city, not the freeway…. I'm not sure what happened."

The light turned green and Hermione drove through the intersection, which she noticed read Hacienda and West Los Positas. A grocery called Albertsons was on her right and a gas station called Shell was on her left.

"Ron, this is _your_ fault!" Hermione suddenly exclaimed.

"What? How is this _my_ fault?"

"You were distracting me while I was doing the _mobilia_ spell, and now we're in the wrong place!"

"You didn't tell us what you were going to do at all! It's not my fault that I panicked when you starting crashing into a tree at 75 miles per hour!"

"I didn't crash into that tree, I drove well clear of it."

"That isn't the point! You should have warned us ahead of time that you were going to do something stupid and dangerous!"

"Ron, you're so frustrating! Just from now on, don't distract me when I'm about to do something 'stupid and dangerous'!

"So you admit that what you did was stupid and dangerous?"

"How thick can you get to –"

"Look, there's a D.M.V. office over to the left. We might be able to get some maps there," Harry interrupted loudly to stop Ron and Hermione's constant bickering.

Hermione turned on her left turn signal and drove into the Department of Motor Vehicles parking lot, and quickly parked. The four of them got out of the car, and the honk of the horn signified that Hermione had locked the doors.

"Excuse me," Hermione said to the lady behind the counter. "What city are we in?"

"Ah, not from around here, are ya?" the lady said, obviously noticing Hermione's accent. "You're in Pleasanton." She whipped out a map of the state of California and pointed to the dot labeled 'Pleasanton.'

Harry raised his eyebrows as he saw the large distance between the dot labeled 'Pleasanton' and the huge yellow area labeled 'Los Angeles' and saw Hermione do the same.

"Um, what is the quickest way to get to the Los Angeles area?" Hermione asked.

"Highway 5."

Hermione did a poor job suppressing annoyance in her tone as she said, "And how do I _get_ to Highway 5?"

"Just take Highway 580 East and merge onto 5 at the interchange around Tracy." She paused and when Hermione didn't say anything, she said, "I suppose you're going to want to know where the 580 East ramp is? Just turn left onto West Los Positas and then right onto Foothill Road. . . . The big one up there." She pointed behind her. "Then you'll stay on Foothill until you get to the 580 East ramp. It'll be on the right side."

"Thank you," Hermione said, relieved.

The lady smiled. "Why don't you take a map of California too? Then you won't have to keep getting lost. . . ." She handed her a map and they left.

"Well, I guess we'll just have to drive there," Hermoine said once they were all in the car. "By the looks of this, it could take six to eight hours. It's going to be a long ride, so buckle up."

As they pulled out of the parking lot, Harry distinctly heard her say under her breath, "Thanks to Ron. . . ."


	4. A Really Long Drive

"There's the ramp!" Harry shouted. "You missed it!"

"No, I didn't!" Hermione said shrilly as she slammed on the brakes and turned the steering wheel sharply, making the car roll over the curb and Ginny and Harry fly toward the left side of the car.

Hermione pressed the gas petal to get to freeway speed but quickly hit the brakes again, as there were cars waiting at the meter light in front of her. Ron flew toward the dashboard and Harry and Ginny hit the seats in front of them.

"Oh dear," Hermione said, looking at the packed freeway. "We're at the end of rush hour."

"Wait a minute," Ron said. "Its 10:20 A.M. now, isn't it?"

"Yes, why?"

"We left at 10:05! If we're in California, this should be a completely different time zone."

"Yes, you're right Ron. But even though it didn't seem like it, it actually took us eight hours to transport ourselves here. It should be about 6:20 P.M. back home."

Harry was impressed. "Where did you learn that spell anyway?"

Hermione blushed, and to nobody's surprise she named a book, "_Magical Means of Long Distance Transportation_." Ron snickered.

The meter light turned green and Hermione merged in between two SUVs. The traffic crawled at 15 MPH. Hermione made a noise of impatience.

"Where were we?" Harry asked Ginny slyly. They leaned in and promptly began kissing again. Ron looked disgusted and began humming to block out the noise.

"Aren't they so cute?" Hermione whispered. Ron crossed his arms and began humming louder.

Half an hour later, they had only gone about seven miles, but as they reached the town of Livermore, the traffic started clearing. Hermione sped up. "We're not too far from the interchange now."

The trip went rather uneventfully. Hermione was grumpy, Ron was annoyed, but Harry and Ginny seemed to take no notice of anything except themselves at all, much to Ron's displeasure.

"I'm hot," Ron complained. "Why don't you open the ceiling?"

Hermione rolled her eyes at Ron's choice of words but put the top down all the same. The wind whipped them all pleasantly.

"Augh, Hermione, it's too windy for us back here," Harry said, pushing more of Ginny's long hair out of his face again.

"Too bad," Hermione snarled. Finally getting onto Highway 5, she accelerated and moved over to the left lane.

"I need to go to the bathroom," Ron whined.

Hermione literally snarled this time.

"That sign says that there's a rest area a mile ahead," Ginny said.

"Fine! We'll go to the stupid rest area!" Hermione accelerated angrily and cut across about four lanes so that she would be ready to turn into the rest area. Ron gripped his seat tightly.

Less than a minute later, Hermione turned on the turn signal and slowed down. Upon entering the rest area, they saw several trucks pulling in and backing out, causing dust to fly everywhere. They started coughing as the dust swirled around them. Hermione pushed the button to make the roof come back up, and, after swearing profusely, muttered _"Scourgify!"_ while pointing her wand at the car. The dust that had settled disappeared instantly, and the dashboard gleamed with a strong smell like Pledge. Ron started coughing again.

Dust swirled around them as they pulled into a parking spot and the four friends got out of the car.

"It is _really_ hot here!" Harry exclaimed, pulling on his shirt and fanning himself.

"Stop complaining; it's only 88ºF."

"How do you know that?" Ron asked.

"The dashboard has a temperature gauge in it."

"Well, I agree with Harry. It _is_ really hot here."

"We're in California, it's supposed to be like this."

Harry and Ron set off toward the bathroom on the right, while Ginny and Hermione went to the one on the left. As Harry entered the bathroom, he noticed the smell of urine and the sight of rude graffiti on the stall walls.

A few minutes later, they all met back at the car. "Can I drive now?" Ginny asked.

"Sure!" Hermione said, smiling for the first time since they had arrived in California.

"Can I sit in the front? I've been sitting in the back for the last hour and a half," Harry said.

"No," she said at once. "She needs a competent driver in the front to take over the wheel during an emergency."

Harry grumbled and opened the left car door and sat behind Ginny. Ron sat on his right, behind Hermione. "Fancy a game of chess?" he asked, pulling out a battered wizard chess set and placing it in between himself and Harry as Ginny pulled back onto the freeway, closely monitored by Hermione.

"All right," he said. Ginny pulled the car into the left lane and the chess pieces toppled off of the board. Grumbling darkly, Harry and Ron picked up all of the pieces and placed them back onto the chessboard. _"Polarize,"_ he said, tapping the chessboard once with his wand. The chess pieces sprang magnetically into place.

"Brilliant! Okay, let's play."

Within the next half an hour, Harry and Ron had to endure Hermione yelling at Ginny when she caught her accelerating sneakily towards 90 MPH before Ron, with a satisfied smirk, proclaimed, "Checkmate!" Harry swore under his breath, as this was the 300th time he had lost against Ron at chess. Yes, he was counting. He glared malevolently at Ron as he pulled out his notebook and wrote '300'.

"I'm hungry," Harry said in a bad mood. "Let's stop for lunch."

"Well, Harry,"Hermione said sweetly but sarcastically, "We're in the middle of nowhere." They were, in fact, traveling through the Central Valley and the only life they saw besides the other cars were cows grazing through brown, rain-deprived grass along the side of the freeway.

"Actually," Ginny said brightly, "There's a city about ten minutes from here!" She pointed towards a green sign up ahead, which read _Kettlemen City . . . . 14 miles_.

Harry grinned and hugged Ginny from behind her seat. Ron looked out of his window.

"Harry, what do you think you're doing?" Hermione exclaimed. "You're going to get us killed!"

Harry glowered at Hermione and was reduced to massaging his girlfriend's shoulders as she drove.

Harry looked around as they pulled into the Kettlemen City exit. Besides the fifteen or so gas stations, the rest of the 'City' comprised of fast food restaurants. He looked at them all as they drove on: _Taco Bell, Pizza Hut, Burger King, Jack In The Box…_

"We're going to need to get some gas," Hermione said. "Pull into that Chevron over there."

As Hermione scolded Ginny for not using a turn signal and not slowing down enough, a thought occurred to Harry. "Hermione . . . all Ron, Ginny, and I have are Galleons, Sickles, and Knuts. How are we going to buy lunch? We'll need American money."

"Oh, don't worry about that Harry. This vacation is part of my birthday present so my parents have decided to fund the trip."

"That's awfully nice of them," Harry said. Ron nodded in assent.

"You guys should put on a hat or something before you get out," Ginny said. "The dashboard thermometer reads 97ºF."

Ron gaped in horror. "Ninety-seven degrees?"

"California has a much hotter climate than home. I read that in my book I got for Disneyland: _Popular Vacation Destinations of Southern California_."

Harry and Ron both put on a ball cap and got out of the car after Hermione and Ginny. Hermione was right, Harry realized. It was hotter outside than he could ever remember it being back at home or at Hogwarts.

Hermione pulled out the gas pump and put it in the car tank. Ron looked on inquiringly.

"It's a gas pump, Ron," said Hermione, sighing. "The car runs on gasoline, but after a while, the gas runs out. Whenever you press the gas pedal, which makes the car go, gas goes into the engine and the car moves."

"Wow," Ron said rather stupidly.

"Harry, why don't you clean the windshield while I do the gas?"

"All right," Harry said. Making sure no Muggles were looking, he pulled out his wand from the back pocket of his shorts and muttered _"Scourgify,"_ pointing the wand at the windshield, which immediately became sparkling clean.

Hermione rolled her eyes. "No, Harry, I meant with the windshield cleaner." She pointed to a blue bucket filled with soapy water with a squeegee sticking out of it. "But I guess that'll do."

Harry decided to take advantage of the newly pointed out water bucket. He walked over to it and splashed some of the cool, soapy water onto his face. The feeling was great. He rubbed some of the cool water into his hair, enjoying the feeling of it trickling down his neck.

"Good idea!" Ron said. "Budge over, mate, I want some too."

Harry grinned wickedly. "You want some do you?" He splashed some into Ron's face, leaving him wet and spluttering.

"Harry!" Ron and Hermione exclaimed at the same time.

"You're getting water on my new car!" Hermione shrieked.

"What's going on out here?" Ginny asked, getting out of the driver's seat.

Harry grinned wickedly again and splashed some soapy water into Ginny's face. Ginny stood rooted to the spot, water dripping down her front.

"Harry, stop! You're acting like a child!" Hermione exclaimed.

"That's the thing Hermione: though you may be turning eighteen next month, I still have almost a whole year to act like a child."

Hermione could not think of any retort to throw back at him, so she glared at him instead.

"You're next, Hermione. . . ." Harry said, going over to the water bucket once more. Both Ron and Ginny followed him, identical smirks on their wet faces.

"No," Hermione said, dumbfounded. "Oh no you don't!"

Harry and Ron both splashed water at a squealing Hermione, while Ginny charged after her with the squeegee.

"Come on, Hermione, it feels really nice in this weather," Ron assured her.

Hermione shrieked when Ginny tossed water from the squeegee at her. "Ginny, you're getting my car wet!"

Ginny giggled and Hermione pulled the pump out of the gas tank with a noise of annoyance. Before getting into the driver's seat, she preformed a simple charm to remove the water droplets from the car.

Hermione pulled out of the parking lot rather recklessly just as Harry and Ginny began to get cozy in the backseat again.

"Would you guys cut that out for once?" Ron said, highly annoyed and disgusted.

Harry and Ginny ignored him.


	5. Home at Last

"Aren't we _there_ yet?" Ron moaned several hours later as they neared Los Angeles.

"Stop whining Ron, we're getting close now. There's the Los Angeles county sign. It shouldn't be more than an hour," Hermione said just as they entered very thick traffic. "Or two…"

"Oh, come on Ron! You don't get to see Los Angeles every day," Ginny piped in.

"I'm bored," Ron said.

Hermione made a noise of annoyance, but didn't say anything

"Come to think of it," Harry said, leaning toward Ginny. "I think I'm starting to get a bit bored, too."

"You are, are you?" Ginny leaned in so that their faces were inches apart. "I can fix that," she whispered.

Ron groaned as they started kissing again, and looked at Hermione as if asking her without speaking to tell them to stop.

Hermione raised her eyebrows. "Don't look at me like that, Ron, I'm driving. You don't want us to crash, do you?"

"What?" Ron asked, confused. He and Hermione looked at each other funnily. They both blushed and turned back to the road, as if nothing had happened. "So how long do you bet they'll keep at it _this_ time?" Ron asked in a would-be casual voice.

"At least until we pass through L.A.," Hermione said.

"How much you wanna bet they'll still be going when we pull into the hotel?"

"No way! That's over an hour from now."

"How about a sickle?" Ron asked.

"You're on," Hermione said, grinning at her friend.

Meanwhile, Harry and Ginny were paying no attention to Ron and Hermione's discussion whatsoever. Or so Ron and Hermione thought.

"Can you two be quite?" Ginny asked irritably. "I'm kissing Harry but I keep on hearing _Ron's _voice. It's really disturbing."

Hermione rolled her eyes and continued to plow through the thick, but dangerously fast-moving traffic.

Ron starting counting the lanes on the southbound side of the freeway. _Two carpool lanes, which are illegal to cross…six regular lanes…and an exit lane…_ "Hermione, there are nine lanes of traffic, and you are right in the middle," Ron said matter-of-factly.

"Thank you for that highly useful bit of information," Hermione said sarcastically, eyeing the four lanes on each side with unease.

"Did you know that about 3,600,000 people live in Los Angeles?"

"Now _how_ do you know that?" Hermione asked, giving Ron a curious look.

"That sign that we just passed said so."

"I see you're being observant for once," Hermione said with an unreadable tone.

"Now what are you insinuating?" Ron asked angrily.

"Ooh, insinuating? That's a big word," she teased.

"Hermione, what is the matter with you today?"

"I like it, Ron! I'm just not used to you using big words and noticing things."

Ron turned slightly pink. "Oh…well…" he said, clearly at a loss for words. "What hotel are we staying in?" he asked, changing the subject.

"Residence Inn. It's only a few blocks from Disneyland. We'll be able to go there tomorrow."

"What _is_ Disneyland anyway?" Ron asked, as they passed the exits for Hollywood Boulevard and Vine Street.

"Didn't I tell you?"

"No."

"Why didn't you ask earlier?"

"I did, but you just said 'you'll see.' It was when you were trying to perform the _mobilia_ spell, remember?"

"Oh yeah. I didn't answer because I was trying to concentrate."

After a pause, Ron said, "Well?"

"It's a theme park, Ron. You know, like an amusement park, but with a theme."

"What's an amusement park?"

"Ron, do you know what a rollercoaster is?"

"No."  
"You're going to love it."

"Okay, fine. So, what is a rollercoaster? What is a theme park?"

Hermione smiled. She loved torturing him like this. "You'll see."

Ron opened his mouth to protest, but was interrupted by Harry. "How much longer, Hermione?"

"Ha!" she shouted making them all jump. "They stopped kissing! You owe me a sickle, Ron!"

"No we didn't. Harry just wanted to ask how much longer," Ginny said.

"It's probably over an hour, Harry. Just sit tight."

"You got it!" He then swooped back down onto Ginny.

"That doesn't count, Hermione," Ron said. "They only stopped kissing for a few seconds."

"It doesn't matter! They still stopped."

"No way! We bet on them still kissing when we pulled into the hotel. As long as they're still kissing when that happens, I'll win!"

"No, Ron. We bet that they'd be kissing the whole time without stopping."

"That's a bit extreme, Hermione. I don't remember that part of the deal."

"Won't you two just give it a rest?" Harry asked angrily, pulling away from Ginny again. "Bickering all the time! It drives me nuts! You realize that, don't you? You two are always arguing. It's like you're already married!"

Harry and Ginny returned to their previous activity while Ron and Hermione blushed and looked back to the road ahead of them.

After an hour or so of silence except for the noises Harry and Ginny were making, Hermione took the Katella Avenue/Ball Road exit.

"We're almost there! Why don't you two stop making out and look at the scenery!" Hermione said rather shrilly.

"No way are they going to stop," Ron said, snickering. Hermione looked aggravated.

"Look, you can see the top of Matterhorn Mountain!" Hermione exclaimed, pointing.

"What's that?" Ginny asked, pushing a protesting Harry off of her and looking out of the window.

"It's part of Disneyland! It's one of the rides, the Matterhorn Bobsleds." Hermione squealed with anticipation. "Ooooh, I can't wait!"

Harry snickered. "The Dursleys never took me to an amusement park before… I'm sure it'll be exciting." He gazed at the fake, snow-covered 'mountain' and imagined rollercoaster cars zooming around it, the classic sound of a rollercoaster screaming and shrieking around him.

"How do you know so much about this 'Matterhorn Mountain'?" Ron asked.

"Do you think I'd travel half-way across the world without researching it first?"

Harry vaguely mumbled "I wouldn't" as Ron said, "But you just found out about this trip yesterday. There just wouldn't have been enough _time_," forcefully reminding them all of third year when Ron had said almost the exact same words to Hermione over breakfast one morning.

"Oh, well, I just zipped down to the library and read until I fell asleep. You can still sort of see the mark the book made on my face," Hermione said, pointing to her cheek where there was a slight red mark the shape of a book. Harry, Ron, and Ginny all laughed while Hermione grinned embarrassedly.

"Here we are!" Hermione exclaimed, pulling into the Residence Inn, and parking in an empty space between a coupe with an Arizona plate and a pickup with a California. They got out and locked the car with a familiar honk and walked briskly to the entrance.

"Hi, I have a reservation…" Hermione said to the man behind the counter.

"Last name, please?"

"Granger," Hermione replied, glancing at a large fish tank near the entrance, where several large, colorful fish were hiding underneath a layer of rocks. On the wall behind the counter was a clock shaped like Mickey Mouse, with a mouse tail for a pendulum, which proclaimed that it was almost 6:00 P.M.

"Two bedrooms, four double beds?" Hermione nodded. "Room 416." He brandished a map of the hotel and began to point out the elevators, parking areas, stairs, restrooms, and dining room, circling several things in the process. He then told Hermione about a bus that they could take to and from Disneyland, and that she could buy entrance tickets to Disneyland at the front desk. Harry fell into a stupor. "If you have any questions or concerns, just dial zero on the telephone and you'll be connected to the front desk."

"Thank you!" Hermione said, taking the four room keys he was handing her. "Harry? Come on, Harry, we're going…"

Ginny pinched Harry and he tore his eyes away from the Mickey Mouse clock on the wall, an embarrassed flush appearing on his cheeks. "Eh… right."

Hermione led the way back to her car and opened the trunk. They each took their suitcase out of it and pulled it along with them back to the hotel.

Harry averted his eyes from the Mickey Mouse clock as they passed through the entryway and stood in front of a pair of elevators.

"We're on the fourth floor," Hermione said, pushing the elevator button so that it glowed orange. Ron looked on in amazement. "So we should have a pretty good view of the park and the fireworks!"

Ron stared as the elevator doors opened and they stepped onto it. "Fireworks?" Harry asked as the elevator started ascending. "There are going to be fireworks tonight? Why?"

"It happens every night," Hermione said casually.

They stepped off of the elevator at the fourth floor and proceeded down a hallway. "Well, here we are!" Hermione proclaimed, stopping at the door with the number '416' on it, and sticking her plastic key downward into the slot on the door handle. "Home at last."

Harry smiled. Ron and Hermione had completely forgotten about their bet on whether or not he and Ginny would continue kissing all the way to the hotel.


	6. Exploding Snap

"We've got to get some food for dinner tonight. Anyone want to come with me to the grocery store?" Hermione jangled her car keys impatiently. Harry, Ron, and Ginny were just about to sit down on the sofa when Hermione made this interruption.

Harry and Ginny shook their heads. "I'll come with you," Ron said, getting off of the couch. Hermione smiled.

"We'll see you two later." Hermione grabbed Ron's arm and pulled him to the door.

"I'm perfectly capable of walking by myself," he said, pushing Hermione's hand off of his arm.

"Don't be like that, Ron! I was just –" but the door slammed shut behind them and Harry and Ginny could only faintly hear their bickering as they proceeded down the hall.

"Those two," Ginny said, smiling and shaking her head. "What is it with them?"

"They've always kind of had a 'thing' for each other. You should have seen them when Hermione invited Ron to Slughorn's Christmas party last year. I think the only reason they didn't start kissing right then was because I was standing right in between them." Harry chuckled, then sighed. "Then Ron had to ruin everything by chasing after Lavender… I knew it was a mistake the second I saw Hermione's face."

"That's just like Ron, to mess everything up like that. He is so retarded sometimes." Ginny leaned onto Harry. "Want to watch T.V.?"

"Sure," Harry said, as he began to play with Ginny's hair.

_Meanwhile, at the grocery store…_

"Hermione, that guy looks exactly like Roger Davies!"

"Don't be silly, Ron," Hermione said vaguely, examining a bruised apple without even looking up. They were currently in the fruit section and Hermione had to endure Ron's remarks constantly as she looked for the items on her list. She picked up a few good apples, put them into a bad and tied it with a twisty-tie, and checked 'apples' off of her list. She then put the bagged apples into her cart.

"Hermione, what's _that_?" Ron asked, pointing to a green machine near the entrance to the store.

This time, Hermione did look up. "It's a change machine."

"What do you mean?"

"You put in a dollar and it gives you about ninety cents." She then started looking for potatoes.

"I don't understand."

"Just say you put a Galleon into it and it gives you seventeen sickles in return," Hermione explained, pushing her cart to the end of the isle and examining the potatoes.

"Really? I want to try." He then pulled a Galleon out of his pocket and marched over to the machine.

"No, Ron, I was just kidding," Hermione said hastily, grabbing his arm. "It doesn't work with Wizarding money. It only works it you have American money. Plus, it takes ten percent of your change, so it's a total rip off. It's just some evil scheme like a slot machine at a casino."

Ron's face fell. _He's just like a little kid sometimes,_ Hermione thought, biting her lip. She sighed. "All right, here, take this dollar and put it in the machine and get some change." She handed Ron a dollar, fully expecting him to do it wrong and return with nothing. _Just a dollar,_ she thought. _And now he'll be out of my hair._

She continued her shopping as Ron charged off with the dollar and proceeded to the dairy part of the store. Several minutes later, Ron appeared at the end of the isle. "Hermione!" He rushed toward her, nearly knocking over an elderly lady's cart in the process. "I got the change," he said happily, depositing several coins into her hand.

"Oh, you did it! Thank you." Hermione rolled her eyes as soon as Ron turned away, and began counting the coins in her hand. Satisfied, she put them into her pocket.

"Okay, Ron, we're nearly done. I just need bread and milk." She picked up a gallon of milk on the refrigerated shelf next to her and turned down another isle, Ron following behind her. After grabbing a loaf of bread, she wheeled her cart towards a checkout lane. Ron began to fiddle with a switch below the glowing, plastic sign and the light began to turn on and off. Hermione snickered. "Ron, don't touch that." She flipped the light back on again and removed his hand from the switch. She couldn't blame him for being curious, however. It must have been strange seeing all this Muggle stuff for the first time, and in a foreign country. She placed both of his hands into his pockets. "There. Now don't touch anything else, people are starting to stare."

* * *

Harry and Ginny were watching a reality T.V. show when Ron and Hermione entered the hotel room, each clutching several bags of groceries.

"I'm going to start making dinner," Hermione announced. "Harry, you can help me. Ron, Ginny, please set the table."

"What are we having?" Ron asked, whose stomach began to make noise.

"Spaghetti and garlic bread! It's one of my favorites."

Harry chuckled. "I've had to make garlic bread hundreds of times for the Dursleys." He then pulled out an oven sheet and began preparing the food as Ginny opened a drawer and removed four sets of silverware.

"Who wants to play Exploding Snap?" Ginny exclaimed, pulling out a deck of cards once the table had been set and Harry had put the bread in the oven.

Hermione gave a disapproving look. "No, guys, don't. You'll disturb the people in the room below us."  
Ginny ignored Hermione as she sat on the floor next to Harry and her brother and began stacking up the cards.

Hermione turned back to the spaghetti, knowing that nothing that she could say would stop her three friends from making a bunch of noise. _Well, why not? We're on vacation, may as well let them disturb the people in the room below us, as long as they're having fun._

A few minutes later, what Hermione had been dreading happened. The stack of cards toppled with an explosive bang and Harry, Ron, and Ginny shrieked loudly, and then started laughing.

"Why is it _always_ me?" Ron shouted, feeling his burnt eyebrows. Ginny and Harry laughed even harder. Even Hermione couldn't suppress a smile. They began to play again, Ron grumbling darkly. Hermione continued to stir the spaghetti sauce.

"Watch out, Ginny!" Harry said, as the stack of cards teetered dangerously.

"Phew, that was close." Ginny wiped her sweating forehead.

"Your turn, Ron," Harry said, grinning evilly.

With a look of intense concentration, Ron leaned forward and gingerly placed a card on top of the stack. Unnoticed by Ron or Ginny, Harry blew lightly onto the stack as Ron put down a card. The stack fell again and blew up in Ron's face, smoldering the tip of his red hair. Hermione, who had seen Harry's cheat, giggled uncontrollably while Harry and Ginny rolled around on the floor, laughing so hard that there was no noise coming from them at all except for gasping breaths. Hermione wiped tears of mirth from her eyes as she giggled harder.

"Should have seen…your…face…" Ginny gasped, sitting up. But she quickly fell back down on the floor again, overcome with silent fits of laughter as she remembered Ron's expression as the cards blew up in his face.

"My…lungs…" Harry said, holding onto his chest.

Ron looked angry. _"Every single stinking time…"_ He felt his blackened hair and moaned at the dead feeling.

Ginny let out a loud shriek of laughter and quickly covered her mouth. She giggled as they all stared at her. "Oops…" she said. Her face was red from laughter and embarrassment at her outburst.

"Dinner's ready," Hermione said once they had all calmed down. They began to eat, Harry and Ginny still breathing heavily, clutching their aching stomachs.

Ginny snorted into her napkin and almost fell off her chair, making the other three laugh. "I'm sorry! I was just remembering Ron's face when the cards blew up…"

Ron groaned as he touched his burnt hair again after they had cleaned the dishes. "How am I going to fix this? Hermione, do you know a spell?"

"No," Hermione said, wringing her hands. She did in fact know just the charm to renew dead hair. However, she wanted to see him suffer with it, and, just maybe, she'd perform it on him tomorrow morning before they left for Disneyland.


	7. The Happiest Place on Earth

"Get up!" Hermione shrieked, barging into Harry and Ron's bedroom at 6:30 the next morning. She was still in her pajamas and her hair was bushier than ever.

"Hermione… What time… It's 6:30 in the morning!" Ron shouted, pulling his covers farther up himself and nuzzling back into his pillow.

"You have to get up! The park opens at 8:00!"

"Hermione, can you please leave?" Harry asked. "We need to get dressed."

"Aren't you going to take a shower?"

"Yes," Harry grumbled. "Now please go away!"

"I'm going to stand here until you get out of bed, Harry, and I hear the shower start. Now hurry up!"

"I'll just stay in bed until Harry's done with his shower…" Ron mumbled sleepily.

Hermione glared at Ron before marching out of the room.

After taking a shower and getting dressed, Harry walked over to his sleeping friend and pulled his covers off. "Get up and take a shower or Hermione will barge in here again."

Ron grumbled incomprehensibly.

"Come on, Ron," Harry said, shaking him.

"All right, all right! I'm getting up!" Ron snarled as he stalked into the bathroom.

Harry walked out of his bedroom. "G'morning," he said sleepily as he sat down on the couch.

"I'm glad to see that you're ready, Harry," Hermione said, sitting down next to him. Harry noticed that she smelled strongly of soap. "Ron isn't still sleeping, is he?"

"No, he's taking a shower. But he's probably fallen asleep in the tub."

"Don't joke like that, Harry."

"Sorry."

"You don't think he really _has_ fallen asleep in his shower, do you?"

"I thought we already agreed that that was a joke?"

"Well, it seems like the sort of defiant thing he'd do…"

"So, are we going to have breakfast once Ron is done?" Ginny asked, sitting on Harry's other side.

"Yep. They're serving breakfast in the dining room."

"I'm tired," Ginny said after a minute or so.

"Me too," Harry said. He put his head on Ginny's shoulder and she played with his hair.

"Early to bed, early to rise, makes a man healthy, wealthy, and wise," Hermione quoted.

"Who said that?" Ginny asked

"Benjamin Franklin."

"And who's Benjamin Franklin?" Harry's voice was muffled by Ginny's hair all over his face.

"He was a famous American diplomat. Very involved with America's separation from Britain."

"Mmm," Harry said vaguely. He started to doze off on Ginny's shoulder. He pulled his feet up to make himself more comfortable.

Suddenly, Hermione found Harry's feet resting on her lap. "Harry –"

"Shh," Ginny said. "He looks so cute when he's asleep.

Hermione rolled her eyes in annoyance. Even though she didn't mind the fact that she and Harry were going out, it never ceased to bother her in situations like this.

Ginny leaned over Harry's head, which was now on her lap, and pulled the coffee table towards her. Once it was close enough, she then put her feet on it and began to drift off.

Hermione rolled her eyes again. Two of her best friends were currently asleep on each other, yet she somehow managed to end up in the middle of it. Hermione started to get drowsy even though she willed herself not to, and random thoughts encircled her mind. _I should have chosen the armchair… I wish Ron would hurry up…_

Ron opened the door and walked into the family room after his shower. What he saw shocked him: Harry, Hermione, and Ginny were all asleep on the couch, and Harry was lying sideways so that his head was on Ginny's lap and his feet were on Hermione's. He cleared his throat loudly and they all woke from their sleepy trances. "Boy, Harry, you sure look comfortable."

Harry looked up and realized that his feet were on Hermione's lap. "Oh, sorry Hermione." He sat up straight.

"It's all right, Harry. What are best friends for?"

"Apparently, foot rests," Ron pointed out.

"Thank you, Ron," Hermione said sarcastically. "Let's go down and have breakfast."

"Good idea, I'm starving."

The four friends stopped in front of the elevator, and got off at the ground floor.

"Ah, donuts!" Harry exclaimed, grabbing a plate and putting a chocolate-covered donut on it. Once they had all gotten their breakfast, they found a table and sat down.

"The shuttle for Disneyland leaves at 7:45, so we won't have time to fool around after breakfast," Hermione warned them.

"No problem, Hermy," Ron teased.

"Don't call me 'Hermy,' Ron."

"Why? Grawp does."

"Grawp is a giant. He's too thick to pronounce my name properly."

"I think Grawp likes you," Harry said.

"He even has his own little nickname for you," Ron said.

"Why are you two so immature?"

"You wouldn't have brought us along if you thought we were immature, Hermy, now would you have?" Harry asked after sipping his orange juice.

"I know why you two are doing this to me. You think it's cute, don't you? I'll be willing to put up with it for another forty-five seconds before becoming severely annoyed."

"Whatever you say, Hermy."

"How long is this going to go on?" Ginny asked, sighing. She took a bite of her toast and crunched it noisily.

"Don't worry, Ginny, Ron and I are done teasing Hermione."

"Good. Are we all done with breakfast?"

"I'm still eating," Ron said through a mouthful of donut.

"Hurry up, Ron, or we'll be late. And don't talk with your mouth full of food. It's really gross you know."

"Don't worry, Hermione, we still have about twenty minutes," Harry reassured her after checking his watch.

Half an hour later, the shuttle bus dropped Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Ginny off in Disneyland. "Here we are," Hermione said dramatically. "Disneyland!" They linked arms and ran down the pavement toward the entrance gate. Harry was suddenly aware of how foolish they must have looked. Hermione and Ginny began giggling.

"Here, take your tickets." Hermione handed Ron, Ginny, and Harry each a ticket that she had gotten at the hotel, and they entered the park.

"Look, there's Donald Duck!" Ginny squealed, pointing to their left where there was an archway into the main part of Disneyland. They all rushed toward what appeared to be a man in a duck costume and stood next to him as a random person shot a picture.

"Here you are. Have fun at the Happiest Place on Earth!" He shoved a Polaroid photo of them awkwardly standing around Donald Duck into Ron's hands. He pocketed it.

"So what should we do first?" Harry asked Hermione, who clearly knew more than the rest of them about Disneyland.

"Let's go to Tomorrowland. We can ride on Space Mountain!" Hermione dragged them down Main Street towards the castle which led into Fantasyland and steered them to the right just before they got there, so they were now walking towards a large golden-brown colored ball with two-person ships flying around it. People jostled around them. Soon enough, they passed under a steel archway with the Space Mountain logo at the top, and stood in line.

The line moved rather quickly. They passed over a pizza restaurant and entered an open pathway that went right next to two unmoving spotlights. They soon entered another building and the path sloped downward. The lights were dim, and Harry grabbed onto the rail as they proceeded down into the building. The line had walls on both sides, which had futuristic-looking lights on them. A T.V. screen near the ceiling was currently announcing that pregnant people and those with high blood pressure should go on the ride. To their left, they could hear what sounded like a fast-moving device on a track. Harry felt a jolt of excitement.

"This place is incredible!" he exclaimed, taking in his surroundings.

Hermione chuckled. "This is just the line. Wait until you go on the ride!"

Suddenly, the path entered a high-ceilinged building with the same futuristic theme and lighting to it. Right in the middle of the building, hanging from the ceiling, was a large object that looked like a space craft. An odd, mechanical beeping noise rang in a constant pattern. Harry looked below the spacecraft, and finally saw what he was looking for: A track split through the middle of the room, and on it were the rollercoaster cars, painted to look like mini-rockets. People climbed into the cars and people got off at the exit to its right. After a few more seconds, it started moving and disappeared around a corner. Another train took its place.

"Wow!" Ron said. "So this is one of those rolleycoast things you were talking about?"

"Rollercoaster, Ron," Ginny said, chuckling. "It looks like a lot of fun!"

A few minutes later, they got to the floor of the room and the young lady who managed the line asked how many people were in the party. When Hermione answered four, she pointed in front of her and said, "Rows one and two please."

"We get to be in the very front!" Hermione squealed as they walked to the front of the loading dock. "That's the best place to sit!"

"You and Ginny go in the front," Harry said. "Ron and I'll go in row two."

Several seconds later, a new train pulled up and they got into their respective cars. "Er, Hermione…" Ron asked anxiously. "What are we supposed to do?"

"Oh!" Hermione laughed. "Just pull the bar down in front of you so that it touches your knees."

Harry and Ron pulled the bar down over themselves. As Ron was taller, it touched his knees while Harry had room to move about. A worker came around and made sure that the bar was in its correct place before the train began to move. Harry boiled with anticipation as they rounded the corner at a crawl. Soon, they were being pulled up the track with a loud noise, and on both sides there were moving red arrows pointing towards the peak where they could see no more. As they neared the top, a cool, colorful mist blew on them from the ceiling, and, after hesitating for a split second at the top, the train roared down into the blackness beyond.

Everyone in the train screamed with excitement. They appeared to be going through outer space: All around them there were stars, planets, and swirling solar systems, and the train continued to roar noisily down the track, twisting, turning, picking up speed. It was one of the most incredible feelings Harry had ever felt; it was even more exhilarating than riding a broomstick! They twisted sharply around what appeared to be the sun and Harry screamed along with Ron, Hermione, and Ginny. As they soared through the area, Harry was suddenly reminded of one of the rooms in the Department of Mysteries, where Luna Lovegood had blown up a planet in their fifth year. The train continued to scream along its track, and finally, with a flash of bright light, slowed down rapidly in an area of red light again. In a few seconds, they had reentered the room where they had left, but through the opposite wall. The train crawled to a stop at the loading dock, and the safety bar lifted. They jumped out of the car, all very windswept.

"That was excellent!" Ron said.

"Ron was screaming like a girl," Harry reported, smiling.

"So were you, Harry," Ginny said. "Let's go on it again!"

Hermione laughed. "We have to see the rest of the park, too, Ginny! Next stop: Star Tours."

As they exited the Space Mountain building into the bright sunlight, Harry realized that it truly was the Happiest Place on Earth.


	8. Ginny's Worst Memory

(A/N:) Sorry guys, I had a bit of writer's block. Well, here's Chapter 8: Ginny's Worst Memory.

* * *

Ron still had a slight headache when they left the Star Tours building to go on the rest of the rides in Tomorrowland. 

"What are we doing next, Hermione?" Harry asked.

"The Autopia!" she responded gleefully. Harry had to admit that it was quite amusing to watch Hermione practically bounce with happiness.

"Is that another one of those really dizzy rides? I'm not sure if my head can take it…" Ron said, still clutching his forehead. Harry rolled his eyes. Ron could be such a whiner sometimes.

"It's not. You'll just have to see. You guys actually might find it a bit boring."

Hermione led them over to the long line, where they stopped at the end, and waited for it to go through. A while later, they got to the front of the line and Harry and Ginny got in one car while Ron and Hermione each got in separate ones.

The little car was on a track, which wound around ahead of them and out of sight behind some bushes. When Hermione began to move, Harry pressed the gas pedal, and they heard Ron behind them. Hermione was right, Harry realized, this ride was a snoozer compared to the first two that she took them on.

"Ooh, look at that over there," Ginny breathed, pointing to her right. It was a magnificent garden, full of small, exotic plants, with a small waterfall in the middle of it. In front of them, they heard Hermione sigh as she too admired the garden. Harry noticed that there were also plaques around it, signifying particular people, most of which had died.

But Hermione's noise seemed a little _too_ close. Harry whipped around to face the track and noticed that Hermione's car was stopped a few feet in front of them. Before Harry had time to do anything else, their car smacked into the end of Hermione's, nearly giving them whiplash.

"Harry! You should be more careful!"

A few feet behind them, Ron's voice said suddenly, "Oh no, where's the brake?" They jerked forward as Ron's car hit theirs from behind.

"Harry, what did I just tell you?"

"That was Ron!" Harry said indignantly.

* * *

After eating lunch, Hermione suggested that they go to Frontierland. "We can ride on Indiana Jones' Adventure!" 

"What's that?" Ginny asked, skirting around several strollers as they walked.

"It's kind of a replica of Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom," she stated, oblivious to the fact that none of her three friends had the slightest signs of recognition on their faces. "It was built in 1992, so the creators decided to put 1,992 skulls –"

"Skulls?" Ron exclaimed, wheeling around to look at Hermione so that he tripped over someone going in the opposite direction's shoes. Harry caught him as he tipped forward dangerously.

"Why, are you scared?" Hermione teased, punching him on the arm. Ron's cheeks flushed.

"No," he mumbled, more to convince himself than Hermione, who promptly began snickering.

Ron ignored Hermione for a long time after her outburst, which then escalated to Hermione becoming annoyed, which caused her to say some angry words to get him to talk to her again, which caused Ron to retort rudely, which then started an argument, much to the annoyance of Harry and Ginny.

"Hmm, what else is new?"

"I could see that one coming from a mile away," Ginny muttered.

By the time they had reached the Indiana Jones ride, Hermione and Ron had stopped bickering. It was clear that Hermione had won the argument as usual by her smug expression. Ron sulked moodily as they entered the building, which was decorated to look a bit like a cave. However, there were a few mistakes, such as drinking fountains and metal doors underneath glowing green EXIT signs.

"Ron, don't step on those diamonds on the ground. They're supposed to be cursed," Hermione said warningly. Harry, who was just about to step on one himself did an odd kind of hop and jumped over it. "Watch this," Hermione said a few minutes later. She grabbed a thick, fake bamboo pole and began to move it violently. Harry was surprised to see that it was swinging around instead on being perfectly still like it should have been, and a few seconds later, with a loud 'dangerous' sound, large spikes began to lower from the ceiling. Harry stared in horror. Ron, who was tallest, began to shrink down while staring at the ceiling apprehensively.

"Hermione…" he said anxiously. "What did you just do?"

Ginny laughed. "Don't worry, Ron, they wouldn't build it so that they came all the way down. They would get some serious law suits filed against them for that." As she said this, the spikes began to withdraw back into the ceiling.

"Let's keep moving," Harry said, shooting an uneasy glance at Ron. That room was starting to creep him out.

Finally, after a very long walk through the eerie tomb or whatever it was, they reached the end of the line and, once again, filed into a car on a track. However, this time they were large, adventure-looking cars, which were painted brown to probably signify dirt. There were four rows in each car, and each row had four seats. They climbed into the second row: Hermione got in first, followed by Ron, then Harry, and lastly, Ginny.

A few minutes later, the car began to move quickly and jerkily, making wide sweeping motions as it turned. They all held onto the bar in front of them for support. They stopped in front of a double door with a large, sinister looking face on it, washed in purple light. The doors opened and the car sped up a long ramp with hisses and crackles of electricity on the walls to both sides. Harry eyes involuntarily swiveled to his left and he saw Ron grip the bar with white knuckles. Harry felt a thrill of horror as a pair of huge eyes at the end of the incline burst into flame, staring evilly down on them and forcefully reminding him of Lord Voldemort. Shuddering, Harry removed his petrified gaze from the blazing eyes.

Eventually, they entered a very dark corridor in the tomb and stopped with a splutter. A panicky voice from inside the car itself claimed that they had run out of gas. Suddenly, the headlights illuminated the wall to reveal that it was alive with large, black spiders crawling all over it in a thick blanket. Ron let out a shriek of horror and began whimpering. He quickly averted his eyes and stared determinately at the opposite wall, trying to ignore the scraping noises the spiders were making.

Fortunately for Ron, the car started back up again a few seconds later with a chugging noise from the engine, and zoomed down into another section that was filled with skulls and skeletons, many of which were carrying swords. They could feel the wind from the swishing swords, though, oddly enough, none of the skeletons seemed to be moving, but just standing malevolently in a deadly pose. Harry cringed.

After driving across a spindly bridge over what appeared to be a lake full of lava, they zoomed passed hundreds more skulls and, out of nowhere, a huge snake reared down from the wall and came down upon Ginny, who let out a shrill shriek and grabbed onto Harry tightly.

Harry was surprised and slightly worried when Ginny continued to clutch onto his shirt tightly throughout the rest of the ride.

"Ginny…" Harry said, lightly tugging her arm to make her get up. "The ride is over. We're getting out." Ginny got up and followed Harry out of the car.

Once outside of the ride, Hermione began talking excitedly about how much she enjoyed it. However, she appeared to be quite alone this time.

Harry noticed that Ginny seemed to be very pale in the face. "Ginny, are you all right?" he asked, concerned, as he pried her hands off of his shirt and attempted without success to smooth the thick wrinkles that she had made.

"Don't worry about me… I'm fine…" she said, convincing nobody.

Ron, being the overprotective big brother he is, turned on Hermione. "You shouldn't have let her go on that ride! She's too young! It obviously frightened her!"

Ginny let out a hollow laugh. "Oh, come _on_! I'm sixteen. May I remind you that you were sixteen last year?" Ron didn't say anything in return, so they continued on their adventure through Disneyland.

* * *

Since Harry, Ron, and Ginny insisted on staying in Disneyland until it closed, they didn't get back to their hotel room until around 12:30 that night, as the park closed at midnight. 

"We'd already be up by now if we were back home," Harry said. "It'd be about 8:30 in the morning."

Everybody was too sleepy to respond, and a few minutes later, after they had gotten their pajamas on, they were in bed.

Ginny hugged her soft pillow. It was very comfortable…

_Ginny was walking down a dark path; the only light came from her wand. She shuddered as she passed what seemed an endless amount of skeletons. Why did she listen to that stupid diary? Why didn't she just let Harry Potter keep it? She didn't want it back. But Tom would have told him everything. Harry would never have felt the same about her._

_Tears began to fall down her face as realization dawned on her. It was she who had almost killed all those students, including her brother's best friend. She was the one who had written those horrible messages on the wall. It was she who had been killing Hagrid's roosters. Tom was the one who made her do it all. She felt so stupid for trusting him. She wished she hadn't come down into this chamber like he told her to, but she couldn't go back out; Tom was expecting her. Plus, the pipe was too steep to climb up._

_She began to cry harder. She should have told Percy! He would have known what to do. They all would have been so mad at her, though. They would have told Professor Dumbledore, and he would have expelled her!_

_Ginny reached an end to the tunnel and the doors in front of her opened. She walked to the very end of the chamber and sat down next to a huge statue's feet. After a few minutes, Tom came out from behind the statue. He was very transparent, but his eyes still blazed in a fiery way. _

"_Hello, Ginny," he said, smiling a cruel smile._

_Ginny wiped the tears from her eyes. "What are you going to do to me?" she asked, terrified._

"_Just sit there and wait," he commanded her. She did as she was told._

_Hours went by and Ginny started feeling weaker. She cried herself into unconsciousness…_

_Ginny was suddenly awoken from her unconscious state. She felt that she had very little life left, she was dying…Harry Potter was several yards away, fighting the huge basilisk. Suddenly, one of its teeth penetrated Harry's arm; he slumped down onto the floor, he was dying, just like her, and it was all her fault. If only had she never trusted that diary! Harry wouldn't be dying right now, she wouldn't be dying right now._

_Harry slumped all the down on the floor. He was dead._

_Tom laughed maniacally, just as Ginny started screaming…Harry was dead, and it was her fault. She wanted to die; she knew she would very soon. She was still screaming…_

"Ginny! Ginny, wake up!" Hermione shrieked in horror. Why was Ginny screaming like that, why was she crying? She roughly shook Ginny, but she still didn't wake. Hermione slumped to the floor and started to cry herself. _What on earth happened?_

Just then, Harry and Ron burst into the room. Ron went pale and nearly fainted as he saw his little sister screaming and thrashing on her bed, Hermione in tears on the floor. Harry ran to Ginny's side and shook her roughly. "Ginny, wake up! Ginny!" Harry was starting to lose it himself.

Ginny stopped screaming as her eyes shot open. She lay on her bed, breathing heavily, tears pouring down her face. "Harry!" she shrieked. "Oh, God, Harry, you're okay!"

"What? You were the one screaming… What happened, Ginny? Did you have a nightmare?" Ginny nodded and started sobbing uncontrollably. She held on to Harry's shirt as she did so.

"Y-you d-died!" she said over her own sobs. "In the Ch-Chamber. M-my fault. All my fault!" she wailed. She pulled him towards her on the bed and continued to soak his pajama shirt. Ron and Hermione, both looking very pale, sat on Hermione's bed.

Harry comforted Ginny as best as he could. The fight in the Chamber of Secrets was over four years ago, and Ginny still had nightmares about it? How come he never knew this before?

Once Ginny had stopped crying, she explained the dream in more detail. "…And then you died, and Tom started laughing, and I was screaming, but I knew I was going to die too… And I knew that it was because my diary… It was my fault…" she repeated. She was on the verge of tears again.

"Ginny, it wasn't your fault. It was Tom's fault for making you do all that stuff, it was Lucius Malfoy's fault for giving it to you. And neither of us died," he said bracingly.

"I was just so glad that you were okay. You would've died if Dumbledore's bird hadn't come along." She started crying softly again. Ginny then made a feeble, false-sounding laugh. "It was that stupid Indiana Jones ride. All those skeletons and skulls, Tom's fiery eyes, and even a basilisk. That's why I was so upset and I kept clutching your shirt. I wanted you to be with me the whole time; I didn't want to lose you." She looked down at her hands and realized that she was once again making wrinkles in his shirt. She let go.

"Don't worry, Ginny, I'm right here." And he embraced her in a hug.


End file.
